Spire Wealth Management Lowers Position in Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR)

Spire Wealth Management cut its holdings in shares of Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR - Free Report) by 30.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,422 shares of the conglomerate's stock after selling 1,923 shares during the quarter. Spire Wealth Management's holdings in Danaher were worth $907,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of DHR. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Danaher by 396.0% during the first quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 124 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares during the period. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Danaher in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Rialto Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Danaher during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Hurley Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Danaher during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Dunhill Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of Danaher by 68.4% in the 1st quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 165 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the period. 79.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on DHR. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on shares of Danaher from $260.00 to $230.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Danaher from $280.00 to $260.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. TD Cowen upped their price target on Danaher from $240.00 to $248.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Danaher in a report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on Danaher from $240.00 to $235.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $248.61.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Christopher Paul Riley sold 15,805 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.00, for a total value of $3,129,390.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 15,179 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,005,442. This represents a 51.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Chairman Steven M. Rales sold 1,250,000 shares of Danaher stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $196.74, for a total transaction of $245,925,000.00. Following the transaction, the chairman directly owned 3,105,808 shares in the company, valued at $611,036,665.92. This trade represents a 28.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 11.20% of the company's stock.

Danaher Price Performance

NYSE DHR traded up $3.46 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $201.00. 3,976,045 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,509,872. The company has a market capitalization of $143.85 billion, a PE ratio of 39.03, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.43 and a quick ratio of 1.05. Danaher Corporation has a 52-week low of $171.00 and a 52-week high of $281.70. The firm's 50-day moving average is $195.27 and its 200-day moving average is $207.84.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.26. Danaher had a return on equity of 10.80% and a net margin of 15.81%. The business had revenue of $5.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.58 billion. Equities analysts forecast that Danaher Corporation will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 27th will be issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.64%. Danaher's dividend payout ratio is presently 24.85%.

About Danaher

Danaher Corporation designs, manufactures, and markets professional, medical, industrial, and commercial products and services worldwide. The Biotechnology segments offers bioprocess technologies, consumables, and services that advance, accelerate, and integrate the development and manufacture of therapeutics; cell line and cell culture media development services; cell culture media, process liquids and buffers for manufacturing, chromatography resins, filtration technologies, aseptic fill finish; single-use hardware and consumables and services, such as the design and installation of full manufacturing suites; lab filtration, separation, and purification; lab-scale protein purification and analytical tools; reagents, membranes, and services; and healthcare filtration solutions.